In the Gate Beyond the Stars
by Alchemist Experiment
Summary: Lust feared neither heaven nor hell, neither god nor devil. In her eyes, even death was nothing but an inconvenience. [ScarxLust, spoilers]


-1_Disclaimer: Characters herein do not belong to me, I am making no money off of this._

_Warnings: Spoilers for episodes 21, 22, 42, 46 and 50._

**In the Gate Beyond the Stars**

Colours faded. Greys and blues and sunlight faded into dimness and the black. There was darkness. Cold slid over her skin, slithering along her body like a shroud. Funny, that she could feel the cold when she could feel nothing else. So this was dying. It seemed so easy - like slipping into a cold bath. What would happen now?

Sensation returned. Slowly, painfully. First there was warmth, battling against the icy chill of mortality. Then there was light. Not the light of any earthly sun, but something else. She opened her eyes to it, the darkness at the edges of her mind flooding away like the tide.

She had seen this place before. The white light, the black twisted gates that stood before her, she had seen it before. Was this death? She stood and looked down at herself, searching for any change. She saw her pale skin, the red mark upon her breast, the dark green of her dress and gloves. Even death hadn't given her the humanity she had long sought after.

The doors of the gates were closed to her, barred like a fortress. Was this what awaited her? An eternity standing before a closed door? What was beyond it? Heaven? More likely hell. Lust was disappointed. If she was denied an eternal reward, why wasn't there eternal damnation? The empty plane and the barred gates couldn't be all there was.

"Why have I come her?" she asked aloud, her eyes narrowed as she searched the iron façade for some hint. "Is my soul lighter than a feather? Have I kept the proper holy days? Offered enough sacrifices?" Her lips curved up into a teasing smile. Where was the god so often spoken of by humans?

There was a noise. A grating rumble, like the sound of stone scraping against stone. Like the sliding of a crypt lid. The gates were opening. Light spilled out, black light that had no place in mortal realms. Lust flung her hand over her eyes, shying away from the unearthly light.

Within the narrow line between the opening gates, framed in unhallowed light, was a figure. Lust squinted beneath the shield of her fingers. Was she to finally meet her maker, in this place beyond life? Not whatever god ruled over men, but the man who had played god in giving her life. She hadn't thought of him much, but now, having left her earthly life behind, she wondered.

She wasn't the woman that she had once been. Even in death, the part of her that lived on was not that woman. The light dimmed. No. It was not her maker who stood before her. It was another son of Ishbal, broad shouldered and blazen eyed. He looked the same as he had in life, the decussated marking across his face white and stark against his sun browned skin. She lowered her arm, watching him thoughtfully. Why him? Of all the men she could find at the end of her life, why him?

"I have waited for you." His voice, gravelly and husked as it had been in life, surprised her. She titled her head, curious. It was for him that she had let go of her life, for a life without him was worth nothing.

"Why?"

A flash of anger across his rugged features, his lips twisting. "You know why," was his answer. He stood as a pillar, unmoving and rigid. Yes, she knew. She remembered laying with him beneath the desert sky, moonlight painting his body in silver and gold. She remembered the words he spoke into her hair, words that passed between men and women in moments of passion. She knew why.

"Have you come to take me to hell?" She smiled again, teasing, seductive. She had spoken her own words, beneath the desert stars. Her fingernails had marked his skin, her lips had worshiped his flesh. She had taken him in sin, again and again. And he had given himself to her. If she was the sin, he was the sinner.

"I don't know." He shook his head. His jaw was like stone.

"Are you frightened?"

"Of what?"

"Of hell." Lust laughed. Hell didn't frighten her. She imagined she had been born there anyway.

"I fear no heaven or hell."

"And what do you fear?" She moved towards him, the gate beyond silent and ominous. She reached for him, her fingers cupping his cheek as she had done as he lay dying in the city in the sand. His head turned into her touch, his skin rough under her hand.

"You know what I fear."

"You fear sin," she whispered, leaning her head against his. "And yet you embrace it."

"I don't fear sin."

"Oh, but you do." Lust closed her eyes, breathing in his scent. God, he was warm. His hands came to rest on her shoulders, holding her instead of pushing her away. He wanted her. He had always wanted her. "But you fear more an eternity alone, don't you?"

"You are a despicable creature."

"We both are." Lust lifted his head in her hands and kissed him, his lips warm against hers. She imagined that if this was all there was - the empty plane and the silent gate - she would not mind if he were there. Perhaps they were in hell, but he was no punishment.

"Are you frightened?" He spoke against her lips. She moaned softly before answering, savoring his kiss.

"No. What have I to be frightened of?"

"God alone knows."

"And have you seen your god?" They spoke between hurried, hungry kisses. His hands were on her face, caging her chin. Even in death the scent of the desert clung to him.

"I have seen his work."

"Mmmm." Lust smiled into his mouth. She didn't understand why he was here, if this were even real, but she didn't care. _This_ was what she wanted. Him, her Ishbalite, her scarred man of the desert. It was for him she had longed for human life, and for him she had given her mortality. Perhaps this was all a dream as she lay dying. But it was a good dream.

"We must go." He pulled away from her, his fingers stroking her ivory cheeks.

"Go where?"

"I don't know. To whatever is waiting for us. I have seen…things."

"Things?" Lust searched his face, perplexed.

"A city of lights, in the place beyond the gates. An ocean beneath the half moon. Metal birds that soar through the sky like hawks. Strange things."

"Things that don't sound like either heaven or hell," Lust mused, toying with the short hairs at the nape of his neck.

"No. I have no hope for heaven. Heaven has no room for sinners."

"Sinners.." Lust shook her head. "There are worse things to be than a sinner."

"Such as a sin." The words were spoken softly, almost lovingly.

"And there are worse things than sin," Lust chided, kissing him once more. He opened his mouth to her eagerly. He crushed her against him, lifting her against him as though she weighed nothing. How long had he waited for her, in this place beyond life? She didn't want him to let her go.

"There are," he said, burying his face in her hair. "Perhaps we shall meet them."

"Perhaps we shall." Lust chuckled and pulled away, her hands clasped loosely about his neck. "I am…pleased, that you are here." She had no words of love for him - why would he want them? Her presence alone said all that needed be said.

He only nodded. Death had not softened him any. The desert winds and the fires of war had hardened him, shaped a man of granite that could not be weakened. There was no other man, on heaven or earth, that was like unto him. And he was hers.

"Well? What are we waiting for?" Lust tossed her head, tired of all this waiting. They had forever now. What was the sense in putting it off any longer? The scarred man watched her, his eyes giving no sign to his thoughts. He grasped her hands, his palms large and calloused against her skin. He spoke words in a language she did not know, low and strong. She shivered, her hands trapped between his as he bowed his head to her. The soft words seemed familiar, syllabic and rough. It sounded as though he were praying.

"Sin you may be," he said at last, raising his head to her and pressing a thumb against her forehead. "But you are mine." His gaze was piercing and Lust pursed her lips in confusion. Had he blessed her? Perhaps he feared hell after all.

"Have you cleansed me of my wrongdoings?" she asked with a small laugh. It amused her, to think that he had.

"No." He shook his head. "I will not walk into eternity with a woman who is not mine."

She did laugh then, tipping back her head and closing her eyes. God, what a fascinating man he was! Only he would think of _that_ when they stood before the gates of death itself.

"Well then!" She smiled at him, her hands reaching up to twine once more about his neck. "If there's nothing else you need to do?"

"There is nothing more." He shook his head. So stern he was, even now! He bent and lifted her into his arms and Lust made a startled sound. He held her in his arms, cradling her like a new bride. She leaned her head against his chest, amused and content to be held by him.

He didn't look to her, but looked to the gate before them. Again came the sound of great rocks scraping against one another, and again the unholy light. Lust didn't flinch from it now, held in the scarred desert man's arms.

Whatever lay beyond, whatever heaven or hell was waiting to take them, at least they would face it together.


End file.
